It is Sunday and we are tied up in Brighton Marina on the south coast of England, still awaiting Tom and his crew of riggers from Sussex Yachts to complete work on our forestay tomorrow morning.

Our trip down from London was uneventful - we did not hit any other ships or vessels! However, it was done only on motor as we could not raise any sail due to our faulty forestay, which was a pity as we had a good breeze on our stern during the first 12 hours and we could have done some good miles without using any diesel.

We did make Brighton well in advance of the rather big frontal system moving over the North Atlantic, bringing really cold and miserable weather with it. We have had a whole week of really miserable weather, with galeforce winds and heavy rain - and it being darn cold! The wind has been whistling through the rigging of hundreds of yachts of all sizes and shapes that are occupying this marina. It does boast being the largest marina in the UK.

During the few breaks in the weather we have been able to see the town on the hills above the marina. The houses are quite quaint from a distance with the usual old British style architecture. The main CBD is quite a distance from the marina, accessible by a regular bus service or taxi. At the marina itself is quite a large shopping area, with chandlers, many restaurants and a huge Asda Supermarket. There is even a South African Nando's restaurant!

Yesterday we were visited, for the second time, by the immigration division of the Sussex Police. Two very friendly and efficient police officers sat for nearly an hour on the boat chatting away - I think the visit was the highlight of their day as there does not appear to be too much other crime to keep them busy. However, it turned out that the one officer went to school in South Africa and grew up in Johannesburg.

I must confess that I am not a "birdie" person - I marvel at the little feathered creatures and enjoy the occasional visit from them to the boat when at sea. However, here in the marina there are two "birdie" experiences we see each day. Firstly, there are a few swans that mooch around the marina - a magnificent sight. I was unaware that swans would be found in sea water, but they are (see photograph above). At the land side of the marina is a Japanese style floating restaurant, built on an old barge. We have not been there but have watched the swans in the early evening. They approach one porthole of the barge that must be the kitchen, but is just a bit too high for them to see through. One of them will then sit in the water directly in front of the porthole and stretch its neck to try and see inside. Realizing it cannot quite make it, it starts bouncing up and down. Seen from the kitchen, the chef must see this quite large head bouncing up and down in front of the porthole then from the outside you see a hand suddenly fling a few food scraps out to the swans, who are ever so thankful. It really is a magnificent sight.

The other "birdie" experience is each day, at around 17:30, thousands of swallows come swarming into the marina from the north, in what I presume to be their migration south to warmer climates. They hang onto the rigging of the yachts, chirping away in excitement and creating quite a noise and mess. This goes on for about five minutes until their leader passes the message back to the flock, after looking out over the English Channel. It appears the message so far has been "No, not today, the weather really looks lousy out there". Once the message has been passes back they all suddenly rise off the yacht rigging and shoot off north again. It is quite amazing to watch! I just wonder when they are going to get up the courage to make that crossing of the channel and head south to a warmer climate.

Well, tomorrow (Monday) is the deadline for the riggers to get our forestay up so we can hank on our genoa sail and depart on Tuesday morning, when there is a weather window for us to head south to a warmer climate. Watch this space! John